I'll be suprised if this turns into anything... I think either Apple with either successfully stop these from coming out or they'll turn out to be tapes that have already been circulated or will not be The Beatles, since a few bands were recorded at the Star Club.

Update (1/17/08)
Billboard.com picked up on the story Wednesday morning with an article which pretty much echoed Fuego's press release, though with a small but very noticeable comment that Apple was "looking into the claim." The story includes comments from Jeffrey Collins, who, the original press release said, provided the tapes to Fuego. Collins told Billboard "he got the original tapes at the time from a DJ he'd booked for the club the night of the Beatles' performance. When he got the tapes, which the label says were recorded with the club's permission, "they were in terrible condition," says Collins. Decades later, he was able to digitally remaster them "to make them sound coherent," but says Apple Corps rebuffed his 1996 overture to release the tracks." He also says that "through (legitimate) channels, we will be making these albums available for release." The article also quotes Collins as saying, " The Beatles know these tapes exist and their lawyers know these tapes exist. It's a matter of certain legalities." That last part is true: Sources tell us that Capitol Records and Apple are both aware of the tapes and may be planning some moves of their own. Other details contained in the story include that there is no release date for the CD, probably because they're planning to hawk the tracks now through their website, though we wouldn't be surprised if a CD is planned for later. We were interviewed for an update to the original story that they posted later in the day. The updated version includes this from us:

Astute Beatles fan are already calling foul. According to Steve Marinucci, who runs Abbeyrd's Beatles Page, of the four tracks on the Fuego site, only "A Taste of Honey" is unheard, and the "Lovesick Blues" cover isn't even by the Beatles at all. As for the sound quality, Marinucci says they are no better than earlier "Star Club" releases, which are decidedly lo-fi.

Last word: We won't be at all surprised if there's a development from Apple Corps about all this.

That's not all: Fuego has a similar situation with Experience Hendrix over some 200 live Jimi Hendrix tracks Fuego claims to have, including Rainbow Bridge tracks already on their website, reports Billboard.com and VH1 Classic Radio. Experience Hendrix, which holds the rights to all of Hendrix's music, has already threatened legal action. ""Experience Hendrix serves notice that it will take all legal action necessary to remove this bootleg material from the market and recover damages against Fuego Entertainment and associated parties for infringement as authorized under applicable law," the company said in a statement quoted by Billboard.com.
Here's the complete press release from Experience Hendrix:

January 15, 2008, SEATTLE, WA - Experience Hendrix, L.L.C., has responded to a spate of recent press announcements indicating that Fuego Entertainment has acquired North American rights to over 200 live performance music tracks by Jimi Hendrix. Experience Hendrix is the company founded by the late James Allen Hendrix, the father and sole heir of Jimi Hendrix. Since 1995, Experience Hendrix has owned and administered all the music and related rights created by the legendary guitarist, singer and songwriter Jimi Hendrix.

Experience Hendrix is familiar with the material acquired by Fuego: it is a collection of inferior quality bootleg recordings of Jimi Hendrix previously marketed in the UK by the now defunct record company Purple Haze Records. During the past several years Experience Hendrix filed legal actions in the UK against Purple Haze and its affiliates, and won several UK court judgments which held that Purple Haze had no legal rights to release these recordings, and enjoined any further release of same. by the now defunct record company Purple Haze Records. During the past several years Experience Hendrix filed legal actions in the UK against Purple Haze and its affiliates, and won several UK court judgments which held that Purple Haze had no legal rights to release these recordings, and enjoined any further release of same. On May 24 of last year, the Court of Appeal in London upheld the 2006 decision of the English High Court rejecting the claims of Purple Haze's purported licensor John Hillman to ownership of interests in the music of Jimi Hendrix. It appears that Fuego Entertainment has purchased the discredited claims and inferior copies of Hendrix recordings from Hillman and/or Purple Haze and intends to resume their unauthorized distribution. Experience Hendrix serves notice that it will take all legal action necessary to remove this bootleg material from the market and recover damages against Fuego Entertainment and associated parties for infringement as authorized under applicable law. { END }

Update (1/14/08)
On Doug Sulpy's (The 910) message board, bootlegger Purple Chick posted his analysis of the tapes, which was partly what we drew our opinion on, as well:
"A preliminary analysis:

- I Saw Her Standing There is the booted-but-not-released version.
- Hippy Hippy Shake is the released version.
- Lovesick Blues is the booted version (not the Beatles).
- A Taste Of Honey, however, is new.
The biggest clue is the line: "I dream of your *sweet* kiss and then" The other two versions have "I dream of your *first* kiss and then"

On that board, Doug Sulpy said this:

"Given Purple Chick's analysis (which I trust), it looks like what we might have here is a variant of the "Road Runner" tape, with additional material. ... I also think it's a good idea to sit back and wait and see what happens with this... and keep our fingers crossed that more new material appears."

Update II 9:20 A.M. (1/13/08) Here's a list of tracks that Fuego apparently has. This may not be complete: Road Runner, The Hippy Hippy Shake, A Taste of Honey, Money, Itıs You That Iım Thinking Of [I don't know this is the actual title], Ask Me Why, I Saw Her Standing There, Ramshackle Shack, Lovesick Blues, First Taste Of Love, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Do You Believe, Ooh Pooh Pah Doo, Twist and Shout and Rebel Rouser. As in our earlier update, some of it has been released before and some of it isn't the Beatles at all. And the quality is, again, no better than the previous Star Club tapes.

Update (1/13/08) We have heard the short excerpts and one complete track that are on Fuego's site. Despite the hype of the press release, not all this stuff is new. Some of it has been released as part of the original Star Club tapes, some of it has been bootlegged and some of it ("Lovesick Blues," sorry to say) isn't the Beatles at all. And again, despite the hype in the press release, the quality is no better than the previous Star Club tapes. The only completely new track of what's circulating is the excerpt of "A Taste of Honey." None of this should be a surprise. We seen overhyped news of unearthed Beatle tapes come up before with the same result.

Update (1/12/08) We don't have a whole lot of new information to give you. No one we're aware of has heard any of the tracks. At least one online comment we saw said the Fuego website caused some spyware alarms to go up on their computer. Fuego took a day to send out confirmations to the Fuego Plus part of their website, but there were no Beatle music there that we could find. It seems that you'll have to pay to hear any of it at all.

(1/11/2008) Fuego Entertainment announced Thursday it has acquired 15 songs recorded by the Beatles at the Star Club in Hamburg after, they say, the ones that were released and stopped by the Beatles in a court suit several years ago.

The tapes will be made available online one at a time through Fuego's website. Fuego, formerly a company specializing in Latin music, announced just Wednesday it had reached an agreement with music producer and promoter Jeffrey Collins to form an English music division. The Beatle tracks Fuego has acquired come from Collins' collection.

Here's is the press release issued by Fuego Entertainment on Thursday:

Fuego Entertainment Acquires 15 "Lost", Never Before Released, Recordings by The Beatles

Thursday January 10, 6:00 am ET

MIAMI, FL--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 10, 2008 -- Fuego Entertainment, Inc. (OTC BB:FUGO.OB - News) today announced it has acquired 15 tracks of previously unreleased music by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, "The Beatles." The recordings were made in 1962, a short time before their signing with E.M.I., during the FAB FOUR'S first live appearance together at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany playing before a small audience of about twenty to thirty people. The original tape of this live recording was "lost" for over 33 years in the record and tape collection of legendary music producer and promoter Mr. Jeffrey Collins.

The Star Club Hamburg recorded most groups that appeared at their club in the late 50s and early 60s under a performance contract that included payment in full for any live recordings made at their club. Many of these recordings were released by Polydor (West Germany). However this particular tape was sold along with several others to Jeffrey Collins, of the Collins Organization, a booking agency in London, England. The original idea was that the tapes would be used to promote the Star Club as a venue and the groups to other clubs that the Collins Organization used. The tapes were in fact not touched until 1994 when, with the release of the B.B.C. tapes and a renewed interest in The Beatles, Mr. Jeffrey Collins decided to search for the lost tapes.

This 15 track set was recorded at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany a short while after the Ted Taylor recordings and boast different and perhaps better takes of "A Taste of Honey" and "Hippy Hippy Shake" (using Tony Sheridan as a 5th Beatle). These are the only two songs found on the original Star Club releases with which this recording should not be confused.

This is an historical recording because it was the very first time that Ringo Starr actually played with The Beatles "live" after replacing Pete Best on the drums.

Other tracks make good use of Kingsize Taylor's Band "The Dominoes" who utilize their piano on such Beatles favorites as "Money," "Twist and Shout" and "I Saw Her Standing There" all of which were subsequently used on The Beatles' first studio recordings for E.M.I.

What makes this album truly unique are the eight songs not available on any previously released L.P.s or singles -- which include Paul McCartney singing Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" and George Harrison vocalizing Maurice Williams' "Do You Believe." One of the most outstanding tracks on this album must be "Ask Me Why" showing just how John Lennon and Paul McCartney became such a winning combination.

The complete list of all the tracks, the complete story of how this "lost" tape from The Beatles came into the possession of Mr. Jeffrey Collins and sound clips from several of the recordings from this album will soon be available on our Fuego Entertainment, Inc. web site at http://www.FuegoEntertainment.net. When you enter the web site click on the "Fuego Plus" menu button.

"I am delighted to be given the opportunity to work with such professional businessmen within the Fuego Entertainment Organization and I am truly looking forward to running the new joint venture and achieving the goals that we will set for ourselves," said Jeffrey Collins.

"Our previously announced Joint Venture with Mr. Collins's Echo Vista Group, incorporates into our exciting music library an extraordinary, diverse, valuable catalog of music. In some cases, never released recorded music, The Beatles is only one example. I'm extremely excited about this acquisition and the future release of this historical Beatles album. They are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed music groups in the history of popular music," stated Hugo Cancio, President & CEO of Fuego Entertainment.

This one of a kind historical album will be released under the Echo-Fuego joint venture, a majority control music division of Fuego Entertainment. A release date will be announced in the near future.

Fuego Entertainment, Inc. is engaged in the production, acquisition, marketing, sales, and distribution of entertainment products such as short films, documentaries, television shows, music, and tour productions. Also, through its subsidiaries, the Company provides management and development of television stations, recorded music, and music publishing services worldwide. The music operations include discovery, production, development, and distribution of recorded music. The Company also markets its music catalog through compilations and re-issues of previously released music and video titles, as well as licenses tracks to and from other producers and record labels for various use, including film, documentaries, short films and television soundtracks. For more information, please visit Fuego Entertainment at www.fuegoentertainment.net.

This press release contains statements, which may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Fuego Entertainment, Inc., members of their management, and assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements.

From Casey Piotrovski:

Apparently, the audio is not studio quality, but better (and from the way he sounded, easily so) than Star Club. Here's how this is going to work: They're going to put one full cut on their website plus 3 :30 second clips. You'll have access to them if you join the website ($4.95 a quarter). Every three months, they'll change the tune, maybe offer 2 for that quarter. Eventually, after all 15 tracks have been available on-line, as downloads, a conventional CD will be issued. And, according to the guy, the company has already checked with lawyers. So, this is a go. (By the way, one of the cuts is apparently already on line. And he says "Lovesick Blues" is marvelous.)

Comment: We're skeptical about this. First, as anyone knows, the Star Club tapes were said to be the first time Ringo played with the Beatles. And, as our friend Joey Self points out, those were recorded on the Beatles' last night in Hamburg, so these new ones couldn't have been recorded after. Plus, since the Beatles were able in 1998 to stop the Star Club tapes recorded before these, why won't they be able to stop these? We'll certainly be watching this as it develops.

I've been listening to the original BEATLES LIVE AT THE STAR CLUB 1962 for years. Quite an interesting release history.

When EMI passed on releasing the tapes, a small semi-legitimate company called Lingasong "released" the album in 1977. Its liner notes claimed that Ringo was only "sitting in" although the truth is he was already in the band.

In 1981 the Star Club tapes (like the Decca auditions and the Tony Sheridan tapes) were released on countless semi legitimate companies such as Audiofidelity and Phoenix. Many of these repackagings were manufactured for the budget racks of Kmart stores.

I have several of the repackagings such as "The Beatles Early Years vols 1 and 2" "Rare Beatles." These pop up on Ebay all the time.

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